October Is National Safe Work Month

Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations the Hon. Kelly O’Dwyer MP launched National Safe Work Month last week, a national awareness campaign promoting safe work practices throughout October.

Every year in October, employers and workers participate in National Safe Work Month,” said Minister O’Dwyer.

“It’s a time to commit to building safer workplaces for all Australians. A time to ensure your workplace is free from physical and psychological harm, and that every Australian has a right to do their job safely and free from harm.

“We’re lucky that Australia is one of the safest places in the world to work, but even though we’re doing well, no industry should be unsafe to work in and no death or injury is acceptable.”

Last year, 191 people died on the job, and over 106,000 people made a claim for a serious industry, according to Safe Work Australia, convenors of National Safe Work Month. 93% of fatal work injuries were men, as made public in the Key Work Health and Safety Statistics released in August of this year.

Safe Work Australia Chair Diane Smith-Gander hopes that all workers can take a moment to consider the safety of themselves and others in the workplace at some point in October.

“October is National Safe Work Month, and this year I’m asking you to take a moment for safety,” Ms. Gander said. “Anyone can do this, from the worksite to the boardroom, from those on the factory floor to the CEO. Everyone can contribute to making their workplace safer and healthier.”

Ms. Smith-Gander says worksites and teams should set aside a few minutes each morning talking about workplace safety, identifying hazards, minimising risks, and ways to improve processes to ensure a safe work environment.

Safe Work Australia has made a mini-site available with fact-sheets and data sets, including work-safe literature translated in over 20 languages.

Poor safety costs Australian business over $61.8 billion according to Work Safe Australia, the figure stated an estimated amount of all workplace related injury and illness.

Work health and safety can be improved with “good work design,” where the work environment is optimised for high productivity, job satisfaction, and efficient performance. Good work design contains positive work elements that protect worker’s health and safety, improves wellbeing, and improves business success through higher worker productivity.